Wrench



C. MEYER.

WRENCH- APPLICATION man FEB. 14. 1921.

Patentedsptulii, 1921. 4

CARL MEYER, or TOLEDO, OHIO. I

WRENCH.

rarest o Specification of Letters Patent.

raise.

Patented Sept. 43, 1921.

Application filed February 14, 1921; SerialNo. 444,742.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL MEYER, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Toledo, in the county of Lucas and State of Ohio, have made an Invention Appertaining to renches; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the characters of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relates to wrenches, and particularly to those of the classifor'use in connection with threaded plugs or caps having notched or socketed wrench engaging ends, and has for its object the provision of a simple, ePficientand improved adjustable wrench of this character, which iseasily and quickly operable to engage or release a plug or cap.

The invention is fully described in the following specification, and while, in its broader aspect, it is capable of embodiment in numerous forms, a preferred embodiment thereof is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which,

Figure l. is a central longitudinal section of a wrench embodying the invention in engagement with a cylinder plug. Fig. 2 is an outer end view of the body member of the wrench with the jaws removed, and with a part broken away, and Fig. 3 is an end view of the plug engaging end of the wrench.

Referring to the drawings, 1 designates a cylinder of an internal combustion engine, and 2 a plug screwed into an opening 3 therein. These plugs are sometimes provided. at their outer ends with wrench receiving sockets, sometimes with notched wrench engaging flanges, and sometimes with cross notches or recesses for receiving a turning member. It is the purpose of the invention to provide a wrench which is adapted for engagement with different forms of such plugs.

The wrench illustrated embodying the invention, comprises a body member 4 of cylindrical form, having at one end a squared portion 5 for facilitating engaging and turning the same with a wrench. The member 4 is provided with a threaded opening 6 axially therethrough for receiving a jaw expanding screw 7, the inner end oi which is provided with a tapered nose 8 for the purpose hereinafter described.

The body 4' is provided longitudinally thereof in its sides, in equidistantly spaced relation ther-earound, with jaw receiving recesses 9, which preferably taper inward.

from the outer end ofthe body and open at their lower or inner end portions into the threaded openlng 6. Theserecesses, 1n the the jaws are relatively expanded or forced outward by an inward-movement of the.

screw 7. The inner edges of the jaw extensions 11 are preferably of V form to adapt them to nest together in closerelation within the opening when thejaws arein contracted position. The jaws are held to the body 4 and normally' held retracted therein by a.

split spring collar or band '12,which is disposed in a peripheral groove 13 in the body near its outer end and extends through registering recesses 14 in the jaws. The outer ends of the jaws project beyond the inner end of the body 4 to adapt them to enter the socket or notches provided in the, outer end of the plug 2. The plug engaging ends of the jaws are preferably inwardly notched at their outer edges, as at 15, to adapt them to be inserted into a plug socket which is of less diameter than the wrench body 4.

It is evident in the use of my wrench that the jaws 10 thereof when retracted. may be quickly placed in engagement with the socketed or notched end of the plug 2 and then radially expanded or adjusted to-s uit the size of the plug socket, such expansion being eitected by an inward turning of the screw 7 with the tapered end 8 thereof in engagement with the inward extensions 11 of the jaws. When the wrench has been placed in turning engagement with a plug, a wrench may be engaged to the outer squared end 5 thereof to exert a turning pressure thereon. It the jaws 10 are mserted in a wrench receiving socket of a plug an outward radial adjustment of the jaws therein will cause them to firmly engage the side wall or flange of the socket so that the plug is retained in engagement with the wrench after its removal from a cylinder or other member in which secured.

I wish it understood that my invention is not limited to any specific construction, arrangement or form of the parts, as it is capable oi numerous modifications and changes without departing from the spirit of the claims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is,-

1. In a wrench of the class described, a cylindrical body member having an opening axially therethrough and a wrench gripping portion at its outer end and having a plurality of longitudinally extending recesses in its sides opening at one end into the inner end portion of the axial opening, jaws mounted in said recesses for radial movement therein and having portions entering the axial opening of the member and end portions extending beyond the inner end of the member in work engaging position, and a split spring ring encircling the body meur her and yieldingly holding the inner ends of the jaws to the body member to permit swinging radial. movements of the outer end portions of the jaws, said ring normally locking the jaws againstremoval from the body member, and a screw threaded into the member opening and having its inner end cess thereof longitudinally extending recesses in its sides with one end portion intersecting the circumferential recess, said longitudinally extending recesses gradually deepening and opening at the deepened end into the inner end of the body memberopening, a aw disposed in each longitudinal recess for radial movements therein and having an extension entering the member opening and across recess in its outer side in register with the body member, each jaw having its outer end projecting beyond the inner end of the body member in article engaging position, an expandible spring ring extending around the body member in the circumferential reand cross recesses of the jaws to yieldingly hold the aws against expansion, and a screw threaded into the body member opening from the outer end thereof and having a tapered inner end for coaction with the inward extensions oi the jaws to impart outward radial movements thereto when the screw is turned in one direction;

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name to this specification.

' CARL MEYER;

the circumferential recess 0t 

